Hood gathering means



Jan. 8, 1952 JQ DE GRAZIA 2,581,366

Hoon GATHERING MEANS Filed July 17, 1947 LQ@ 'f/ I k I I N V EN TOR.

Jofelge Grey/a Patented Jan. v8, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HOOD GATHERJN G MEANS Joseph De Grazia, Washington, D. C.

Application July 17, 1947, Serial No. 761,650

claims. (C1, 24203) (Granted under the act of March 3, 1883, as amended April 30, 1928; 370 0. G. 757) The invention described herein, if patented, may be manufactured and used by or for the Government for governmental purposes, Without the payment to me of any royalty thereon.

The present invention relates to hoods generally but particularly to parka hoods, and has for its primary object to provide a simplified construction by which hoods may be closed or brought more snugly about the face of the wearer, in a facile manner.

In cold climates it becomes extremely difficult to tie and knot drawstrings such as conventionally employed on hoods due to the stiffness of the lingers of the wearer. Accordingly it is a further object of the invention to provide fastening device which may be readily operated by gloved hands without the need of finger dexterity.

A still further object of the invention resides in the provision of a hood so constructed that it may be crimped about the major portion of the face of the wearer without closely engaging the chin.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which,

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a hood with the novel closing means installed thereon;

Figure 2 is a side elevational view of the hood;

Figure 3 is a detailed view of one form of hood closing means detached from the hood;

Figure 4 is an enlarged sectional View through one form of the fastening means;

Figure 5 is a detailed sectional view taken on the line 5--5 of Figure 1; and

vFigure 6 is an enlarged sectional detail view through a slightly modified form of fastening means.

Referring to the drawings in greater detail the numeral I indicates a hood adapted to inclose the head of the wearer and providing a face opening 2. In the present illustration the hood is shown as being associated with a coat or parka 3, it is to be understood however that the present invention, which is directed to the closing and securing means of the hood is not to be limited to any specific type of hood or a hood associated with any particular outer garment.

In the illustration the hood may be formed of any type of exible material and is provided with a hem for encircling the face opening 2 and within the hem, immediately adjacent the face opening 2, is placed a cord 4 or other conventional means for imparting body and shape to this portion of the hood. The cord may be sealed off by a line of stitching 5 and within the hem immediately to the rear of the cord 4 is placed a pair of drawstrings 6 which extend about the face opening 2 and pass outwardly from the hem through openings 1 at each side of the chin portion of the face opening. The drawstrings 6 are anchored to the material of the hood at their mid-portion by stitching 8 or other preferred securing means,

As heretofore mentioned the present invention is directed to a hood closing device which will be particularly useful in extremely cold climates where the nimbleness of the fingers of the wearer may be impaired by the low temperatures or by the use of gloves for protecting the fingers from the cold climate. Accordingly, a friction clamp comprising a ball 9 provided with a central passageway l0 is slidably mounted on the respective pair of drawstrings 6 adjacent their ends or terminal portions, and may be secured against detachment from the drawstrings by providing knots Il at the ends of the pair of strings. The passageway I0 is of a Width somewhat less than the total normal widths of the pair of strings so that the ball 9 will serve as a friction clamp in that it will be releasably maintained at any desired position along the pair of strings by means of the friction between the strings and the side walls of the passageway I0. It is to be noted moreover that the openings 1 through which the strings make their exit from the interior of the hem are slightly spaced apart so that when the balls or friction clamps 9 .are forced upwardly to crimp the face opening of the hood in the manner illustrated in Figure l the amount of friction is substantially increased thereby supplementing the normal amount of friction as hereinbefore referred to.

With the foregoing construction it will be apparent that the wearer may adjust each side of the face opening individually so as to cause the hood to snugly engage the forehead and cheeks Without creating a tight frictional engagement of the chin portion of the hood against the wearers chin, thereby eliminating the possibility of injury to the chin which is often caused in extremely cold climates by rubbing of the chin against the marginal portion of the face opening of conventional hoods.

In the modified form of the invention as shown in Figure 6 a single drawstring is employed in lieu of the multiple strings shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive. In this form ofinvention the friction clamp or ball 201s provided with a central opening 2 I having a diameterslightly less than the normal diameter of the drawstring 22 so that in this construction also friction is provided to releasably hold the clamp in any position to which it may be moved along the drawstring. This construction differs from that shown in Figures 1 to 5 inclusive-ionly'inthe factthat 'no additional frictioniis imparted when the balls are moved upwardly to draw the hood into closing position such as provided by spacing of 'the strings where they extend outwardly from the hem of the hood. With either of the constructions described herein it will be apparent that the hood may be opened or closed by merely moving the friction clamps 9 in the proper direction along the drawstrings, thereby avoiding the necessity of tying knots or employing other securing devices which depend upon the use of the ng'ersor their successful operation, and also avoiding the liability of injury to the chin by-frictional contact with the chin .-portion'of the hood.

While the hood itself vhas 'been described in some detail it is tto he understood that the fastening means may be embodied in various types of hood `structures and it is intended that the present disclosure be considered as illustrative rather than -in -any limiting sense.

i claim:

l. A hoodfcompri'singfa body `portion formed of flexible material and shaped to provide a face opening andchinportionja hem `encircling the top and 'sides of the lface opening 'and provided with an outlet at each side 'of the chin portion, a drawstring located in the hem vand having its terminal portions 'extendingr through said outlets, and a friction clamp slidably mounted on each terminal `portion and liaving'an internal diameter greater than that `of the'respecti'veoutlet.

2. A hood comprising a body portion formed of flexible nraterial and `shaped to :provide a face opening and chin portion, a hem encircling the top and sides of the vface opening 'andprovided with an voutlet at each side o'f the 'chin portion, a drawstring located in the hem and having its terminal portions lextending through said outlets with its mid-portion secured to the body of the hood, and a friction `clamp slidably mounted on each terminal portion and `having an internal diameter greater than 'that of the respective outlet.

3. A'hood comprising a body 'portion formed of flexible material and shaped to provide a face opening and chin portion, a hem encircling the top and sides of the face opening and provided with an outlet at each side of the chin portion, a pair of drawstrings located in the hem and having their terminal portions extending through said outlets, means for v'securing 'the ydrawstrings to the hood midway of thei-rlength, and a friction clamp on each pair of terminal portions and hav- -ing an internal diameter greater than that of the respective outlet.

4. Ay hood comprising a body portion formed of exible material and shaped to provide a face 'opening and chin portion, a hem encircling the t'op and 'sides 'of the face opening and provided with a pair of spaced outlets at each side of the chin portion, a pair of drawstrings located in the hem and having their terminal portions extending Tthrciug'h'said outlets, and a clamp encircling each pair of terminal portions, the opening of each clamp being of less width than twice the diameter of a drawstring and the distance between apair of outlets.

5. A hood comprising a body portion formed or" flexible material and shaped to provide a face opening and chin portion, a hem encircling the top and sides of the face opening and provided with spaced outlets at each side of the chin portion, a pair of drawstrings located in the hem-and having their terminal portions extending through said outlets, and a friction clamp on each pair of terminal portions.

JOSEPH DE GRAZIA.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 998,774 Howenstine July '25, Y1911 I1,923,399 Steckler Aug. 22, 1933 2,136,380 Garrison Nov. 15, 1938 2,194,043 Jacobi Mar. 19, 1940 2,313,458 Tucker Mar. 9, 1943 2,439,382 De Grazia Apr. 13, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 523,530 Gfreat Britain July 22, 1940 

